Empty
by otownsangel
Summary: When the gang gets called out on a case on Halloween, their investigation takes them to an old abandoned house, complete with its very own cemetery. Response for CBP2.


_Disclaimer: _I own nothing…

_Summary:_ When the gang gets called out on a case on Halloween, their investigation takes them to an old abandoned house, complete with its very own cemetery. Response for CBP2.

_Rating:_ PG

_Author's Notes: _Well, it was supposed to be quite a bit longer, but I just don't have the time to finish it. This week is crazy! I've got two big presentations, two advising meetings, three papers, and a huge art project for which I am expected to reproduce a section of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and I am _not_ an artist. But as an education major, I'm forced to take the damn class… And on top of that, I'm sick! Probably getting strep again, with my luck…

So anyway, there was supposed to be this whole long beginning with a fun explanation of the fact that it's Halloween and some talk of a case and a description of the house, etc… But since I barely have time to breathe, this is what you're getting… I apologize if it sucks. I have done no revising whatsoever and I can almost guarantee that I shifted tenses at least once (because I almost always do)… And I don't know if it's scary at all… That's what I was going for, but, again, no revising, so I barely know what I wrote… Isn't college just awesome? (And, by the way, that was sooo sarcasm!)

So anyway, here it is. Hope you like it…

* * *

"What the hell is that?"

He hears the tremble in her voice and he feels the way her fingers tighten around his wrist as she shakes with fear and it unnerves him, because he has never known her to be fearful of _anything_, and so he gently and discreetly pushes her behind him, shielding her body with his own. He sees nothing, but the darkness is too consuming and he wonders how _she_ can see anything at all, but he knows there must be something there, because the ever fearless Temperance Brennan is terrified, and she does not scare out of nothing.

"What is what, Bones?" He tries his best to keep his voice even, but it is harder than he expected and he is sure she must hear the trickle of fear he knows he has let slip. "I can't see anything."

"How can you not see it?!" Her voice is desperate, pleading, and he can hear the tears that are forming behind her voice as clutches him almost painfully, her need for the reassurance of his touch keeping her pressed tightly to his back. "It's right there! Right in front of us!"

He tries, he really does, but he sees nothing, and that scares him all the more because he knows she needs him to see, but he simply can't. "Bones, there's nothing there! I can't see it!"

"It's _right_ there, Booth! I swear to God, it's _right_ there!"

She is crying now, and he can hear it in the rasp of her breath and the sharp, uneven intakes of air that she takes too quickly because she is trying her best not to let him hear them. She is terrified, and he knows that she fears she is going crazy, and it breaks his heart because he believes her, he really does... He just can't see what she's seeing.

"I believe you, Bones, I swear to you I do, I just can't _see _it..." he tries to comfort her, his own voice shaking as he tries his best to be strong for her sanity... For his own. "What is it? Just tell me what it is... What do you see?"

She takes in a deep, shaky breath as she tries to calm herself, and he can feel her fear at simply having to describe it. "It's... It's a shadow." Her voice is a mere whisper, and he squeezes her hand, giving her that reassurance he knows she needs; letting her know that he is right there to protect her. That he would never let anything happen to her, and with a calming exhale, she continues, "It looks like a man... In some kind of cloak. It's dark and-- and cold, and empty. I can _feel_ it, Booth... I'm going crazy... I'm losing my mind, aren't I?"

He knows she is truly fearful for her sanity, and he doesn't know how to comfort her, because he can't see it, and until he does, he knows she will take none of his empty reassurances. But then the lightning flashes outside, and suddenly there is an eerie light brightening the window ahead of them, and he sees it... a dark figure, just standing, staring out the window that overlooks the cemetery outside, the dark hood slowly appearing to roll to the side as it moves, the robes sweeping out almost in slow motion, while it turns toward them.

Her breathing almost stops behind him, as does his own, and so he tightens his grip on her, and makes sure that she remains behind him, because he knows that whatever the hell it is standing in front of them, it is damn well not good, and he is not willing to let her compromise her life...

When it stops, standing before them, looking directly at them both, he sees nothing. There is nothing more than emptiness behind that black hood, and he cannot seem to draw his eyes away from that darkness, and he knows that she cannot either, because he can feel the way she struggles to keep herself silent and to hide the sobs of fear that threaten as she presses herself tightly to his back.

And then the lightning flashes again, and a face flashes across before them, but it isn't simply lit by the dim blue that pulses from the window... It flickers, as though the lightning itself is initiated there, and they _see_ it. A dark emptiness that holds a twisted white mass of shapes that he is sure must be a face, but is so horrifyingly distorted that it is almost completely unrecognizable.

And the sound that suddenly takes over, a dark, clicking growl that emanates from no single point, but instead surrounds them and fills them with a cold emptiness that grips tightly at their chests and squeezes, pulling at the air around them and touching them with an icy chill that freezes them in place. The growling grows louder, a howling moan they both want desperately to believe is the wind, picking up and joining in as they both huddle closer to one another in desperate search of solace as the thing before them drifts slowly closer, the 'face' once more nothing but an empty darkness as the hood rocks back and forth, almost as though circling, as it grows closer.

Booth tries to move, tries to urge Brennan to move with him, but he simply cannot. They are both frozen in place, and neither can do anything to force themselves to move. All he can feel is the darkness, and then Brennan's hand tightens around his and she lets out a relieved exhale and seconds later, the lights flicker back on, and whatever it was that had stood before them is gone.

It took him only seconds to turn himself around and wrap her up tight in his arms, and he knows she is welcoming the contact, because the second she feels him there, she has herself wrapped around him as well, tears still streaking down her cheeks.

He holds her tight as he hears footsteps on the stairs and he lets out a sigh of relief as he hears Angela and Jack calling out to them, and he knows that everything will be alright...

Until the lights go out again…

* * *


End file.
